GASTROPODS. 
3 77 
parts of the Northumberland coast are remarkable for their solidity. Thousands of 
bushels of this mollusc are annually consumed in London alone, and as much as 
£12,000 has been realised in a year by the whelk-fishery off Whitstable. Whelks 
are used as bait in the cod-fishery. The operculum of this species is roundly ovate, 
formed of concentric layers, the nucleus being a little excentric. It is compara¬ 
tively small, and of no use as a defensive door to the shell. On the coast of Kent 
and Sussex a race exists, provided with two and sometimes three small opercula, 
instead of one as usual. It is a peculiarity which apparently has become 
permanent to some extent, but how it 
originated is a matter of conjecture. The 
whelk has a wide geographical range, 
occurring all over the North Sea to the 
Norwegian Coast, as far north as Iceland, 
and on the east coast of the United States 
from Cape Cod northwards. It is found 
fossil in the Coralline Crag. Owing to 
the variability in the shell, a considerable 
number of so-called species of Buccinum 
have been described; but the total of 
recognisable forms does not probably 
amount to more than about sixty or 
seventy. These are mostly Arctic or 
northern, but a few are known from 
Japan. Volutharpa is scarcely separable 
from Buccinum, but the shell is thinner, 
and the aperture very large. On the con¬ 
trary, the operculum is minute, that of V. 
perryi from the Japanese seas—a shell 
about 2 inches long—being only about section of whelk (uat. size), 
of an inch in diameter. Neobuccinum is 
the Antarctic representative of Buccinum ; the single known species occurring at 
Kerguelen Island in the Southern Ocean. The operculum differs from that of 
Buccinum in being somewhat spiral, instead of concentric, and the lingual dentition 
is slightly different. Cominella, Cyllene, Tritonidea, Pisania, and Euthria are 
genera referred to the family Buccinidce, on account of general similarity in the 
animals, and especially of the radula. They comprise a considerable number of 
species from tropical and temperate localities, but are not of sufficient interest to 
be further mentioned. We may, however, call attention to the genus Euthria, as 
a remarkable instance of wide geographical range. The typical species, E. cornea, 
which is very common in the Mediterranean, has also been found on the coast of 
the island of New Caledonia, eastward of Australia. The genus Phos contains a 
small number of very beautiful species with highly ornamental cancellated sculpture. 
On the other hand, the closely allied Eburna is remarkable for the smoothness 
of the shell, and the spotted character of the colour-markings. 
All the members of the family of dog-whelks ( Nassidcc ) are comparatively 
small, none exceeding 2 inches in length. The animal frequently has the foot— 
